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Battle of Sector One
The Battle of Sector One is a series of assaults by the Martian Marine Corps (MMC) — assisted by elements of the 1st and 2nd Assualt Corps and supporting naval vessels of Martian Home Fleet, artillery, and special forces personnel — that began on 9 February 2369 as part of the Luna campaign of the Martian Liberation War against the United Nations of Earth. The battle, which took place in and around the Aeorus facilities of Sector One, is regarded as the first major land battle of the war. After bombarding UNE forces for 3 hours forcing all UNE forces to gather into a small but dense bunker network along the command posts, the MMC acknowledged that a greater than anticipated number of civilians, mostly relatives of the UNE soldiers, were still in the network. With naval oversight, the MMC took an incremental approach to the battle, launching fierce assaults then pausing to allow surrendering soldiers, hostages, and families to evacuate in order to minimize civilian casualties. The "trickle-out" strategy, coupled with stiff, fanatical resistance by veteran UNE Soldiers within a small but dense area, prolonged the battle into a protracted siege. Background Since September 2368, the United Republics of Mars had been on a campaign to wrest territorial control from the UNE allies near Earth. The URM's advances were supported by rebel and militia forces from Luna and the Aeorus ring via close air support, artillery, and URM special forces advice and oversight. URM launched its third and final phase of their campaign in January 2369, aiming to capture supply ports and drydocks straddling the space elevator termini near Sector One. By 1 February 2369, the UNE garrison was reduced to four functioning orbital weapons, with the continous bombardment from URM Naval vessels. The massive exodus of civilians complicated plans, with the Martian Marine Corps pausing its assualt for almost 10 days prior to the battle. Within the 10 days preceding the battle, over 20,000 civilians fled the sector. On 9 February 2019, URM's Defense minister Jacob Parly visited URMNS Saham, a command ship near Luna. The Battle Opening Stage The Martian Marine Corps announced the decisive, "first battle" against the UNE Garrison on the evening of 9 February 2369. Available MMC forces in the offensive consisted of around 15,000 Marines, backed by artillery and close air support, along with assistance from the 1st Assualt Corps. It was estimated that UNE still had around 4,000–10,000 of its most committed, battle-hardened UNE soldiers resisting to the bitter end, though general estimates still varied widely. The battle began with a heavy preemptive bombardment throughout the afternoon from MMC mortar teams and URMN bombers, including C1L Wraiths, with intermittent sniper engagements and armoured vehicle clashes throughout the day. Fighting continued into the night with the MMC only advancing until nightfall as URMN flares illuminated the battlefield amidst numerous air raids and "constant" shelling of Sector One; local sources reported night fighting over the Joshigun Space Elevator as well. The MMC reported the deaths of 137 UNE troops along with the destruction of 19 enemy forward positions, four roads, one railgun piece, one hoverbike, and one weapons cache during the preemptive bombardment. Throughout the night of 9 February and into the morning of 10 February, the MMC scored early advances, seizing 41 tactical points within a total of 2 square kilometers of land while repelling an UNE counterattack at 4 a.m. local. URM reported killing many UNE fighters while sustaining 88 of their own. They also reportedly secured a humanitarian corridor for 200 civilians to flee the fighting. By the morning of 11 February, another 1,500 civilians had fled the area in a column of 17 trucks filled with men, women, and children, some identifying as Lunar. Hundreds of civilians continued to stream out of the sector into URM makeshift dock centers. URM combat missions continued; URM Defense Minister Jacob Parly stated the MMC were making "significant progress" despite poor weather conditions. Poor visibility such as overcast weather or dust storms typically benefited UNE defenders as it concealed some of their ground deployments and hindered MMC reconnaissance. The Coalition said that despite the poor weather, airstrikes were being called in "whenever possible". UNE elements were entrenched and fortified, leaving the MMC to rely greatly on URMN air power to soften defenses and dislodge strongpoints. URM bombed a hospital in the secotr allegedly being used as an UNE command and control center to direct attacks and deploy Galaxy Tanks against the MMC. "This hospital lost its protected status when UNE chose to use it as a command and control center," URM stated. UNE media reported that about 70 people were killed or wounded on the edge of the sector after an airstrike hit a settlement where hundreds of people were taking shelter. An URM spokesman responded, "we are aware of open source reports of alleged civilian casualties. We take all allegations of civilian casualties seriously, and understand there is a lot of misinformation as well." The sound of explosions and gunfire echoed dozens of kilometers away from the battlefield as intense airstrikes and MMC missile attacks continued; eyewitnesses described the mushrooming columns of white and dark grey smoke billowing over the skyline as gunshups and missiles streaked through the sky. The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights (OHR) monitor said the MMC was advancing at a slower momentum than initially expected due to UNE's usage of tunnels to navigate the battlefield along with deploying snipers, anti-tank guided missiles, and land mines against the MMC, forcing them to simultaneously conduct de-mining operations with every advance. URM Central Command(URMCOM) commander Gen. Paul Pelosi, who oversees the URM's Luna operations, commented on the battle during a trip to Olympus Mons. "It's a relatively confined space, it's heavily urbanized, it's laden with a lot of explosive hazards, improvised explosive devices for example, and kind of a prepared defense by the UNE," he said, emphasizing the asymmetrical warfare adopted by the UNE defenders. Estimates on the number of remaining UNE soldiers in the sector varied; MMC officials and OHR estimated there were around 3,000 mostly foreign Aeorus soldiers remaining, though previous URM estimates put the number at about double that. MMC spokesman Mustafa Bali said up to 1,000 fighters were still present in Sector One proper. Claims of ongoing backdoor negotiations were voiced, though an URM source denied any such talks were happening, saying that URM demanded an unconditional UNE surrender. 115 civilians were reported to have been killed in airstrikes by the end of 11 February. Civilian Evacuation On 12 February, civilians continued to flee on the back of trucks filled with women and children bound for URM-ran centres in the periphery of Sector One. Violent clashes continued throughout 12 February; URMN airstrikes bombarded entire districts, such as the UNEN Command Centre, as the MMC failed to capture the Joshigun Space Elevator. A fleet of 15 vehicles carrying UNE soldiers was seen reinforcing a secondary front line as URM units used ambush tactics and fielded machine guns and anti-tank guided missiles against URM positions. Local eyewitnesses said the UNE was using trash and tire fires to fill the skyline with thick smoke to complicate URMN airstrike capabilities and to make the air harder to breathe for MMC troops, though URM combat drones remained unaffected. South African reporter Jenny Khalil reported at least 120 MMC soldiers were killed on the 12th in an UNE counterattack that involved a suicide bomber. At the end of the day, URM spokesman Mustafa Bali announced that the UNE controlled only 2 bunker networks, and that all the people remaining there were UNE soldiers. Loss of URMNS Saham At around 2pm local time, an UNE orbital railgun achieved a direct hit on the bridge of the URMNS Saham, immediately destroying the command centre for the MMC drone units. Within 30 seconds of the loss of the command centre, total URM active ground forces fell from 13,000 (including drones) to around 3,450. Sailents into Sector One collapsed in addition to engagements stopping. Then the UNE launched counter attacks, using conventional armoured warfare, pushed URM forces back to their original deployment sites. Multiple refugee centres were captured by the UNE, though no civilian casualties were recorded, as according to the URM Defence Minister, the lack of ground troops called for a stalled retreat, ignoring all non-strategic sites. On Feburary 13th, all gains made by URM were recaptured by the UNE, with URM suffering 1,378 casualties and the UNE sustaining 1,933 casualties during the counter attack. Within the same day, all remaining URM forces were evacuated, ending the Battle of Sector in a pyhrric UNE victory. Aftermath While both sides did not lose significant numbers of military personnel as compared to their overall military strength, the battle showed the vulnerability of the Martian military doctrine, as well as the importance of space supremacy in land battles. After the battle, URM included commander drones in their military force as a way to decentralise their drones to prevent a repeat of the URMNS Saham. UNE groundforces also prioritised orbital weapons and anti-air defences.